17 Ways to Serve Potatoes on St. Patrick's Day

Boiled, baked or fried, I love a good potato. The Irish have myriad ways of preparing the revered root, but you don’t have to hail from the Emerald Isle to enjoy these carb-packed treats. From mainstays served across the pond to Americanized versions of the starchy snacks, here are 17 ways to stuff your face with tubers on St. Patrick’s Day. (See also: 5 Perfectly Respectable Uses for Instant Mashed Potatoes)

1. Bangers & Mash

There are a million-and-one ways to mash potatoes. But this recipe for bangers and mash — one of the most popular dishes to come from the United Kingdom — calls for cream, butter, crème fraiche, and mustard (yes, mustard). It’s served with Cumberland sausage, a pork coil that originated in Cumberland, England, though readily available Italian sausage will suffice. Top it all off with a decadent onion gravy.

2. Rosemary Au Gratin Potatoes

Also known as scalloped potatoes in the United States, potatoes au gratin refers to the brown crust that forms on top of this dish, in this case due to grated Parmesan cheese. With the additions of rosemary and garlic, this rosemary au gratin potatoes recipe can be served as a side dish or the main course.

3. Mustard-Roasted Potatoes

This recipe for mustard-roasted potatoes uses two kinds of spuds — red- and white-skinned — and a heaping helping of whole-grain Dijon. If the sound of that doesn’t make your mouth water, the photo of the finished product will.

4. Loaded Baked Potato

There’s no reason you should need a recipe for this weight-watchers nightmare — unless you’re looking for a healthier alternative. But if you want to indulge like I do, all you have to do is bake your potatoes, then stuff them with your favorite ingredients like butter, cheese, sour cream, bacon, and scallions. Because sometimes you’ve just got to live a little.

5. Twice-Baked Potatoes

Whoever thought of this hybrid dish that’s part baked and part mashed deserves a culinary award. I’ve never met a twice-baked potato recipe I didn’t like, and this one is no exception.

6. Homemade Chesapeake Bay Potato Chips

Yeah, you can buy a bag of chips for as much as it costs to make them at home, but where’s the fun in that? When you’ve pulled your potatoes out of the fryer using this recipe for homemade crisps, sprinkle them with Old Bay Seasoning. That’s the way they do it in Baltimore, and I agree.

7. Potato Pancakes

My Hebrew friends call these latkes, but to non-Jews they’re just potato pancakes. If you like onions, you'll like this potato pancake recipe. It calls for one regular onion and chopped scallions. Green goes well with everything on March 17.

8. Potato Salad

Everybody has a favorite potato salad recipe. Some are better than others, but probably not these. Check out the five semifinalists’ recipes from Emeril’s Best Potato Salad Ever Challenge and decide for yourself. My money’s on the BLT version.

9. Potato Soup

This recipe for America’s Best Baked Potato Soup — the reviews seem to confirm that status — includes many ingredients you know and love with the added essence of fresh herbs and a kick of hot sauce. Best of all, you probably have everything you need to make it tonight sitting in your kitchen.

10. Beer-Battered French Fries

Homemade French fries are one thing; batter-dipped seasoned fries are another. This French fry recipe wants you to slice russet potatoes and coat them with a mixture of flour, garlic and onion salts, and paprika. Turn it up a notch by replacing the water with beer. Call me when they’re ready.

12. Purple Majesty Fork-Crushed Potatoes

I’ve never heard of this type of potato, but New York Magazine says that chef Michael Anthony’s smashed rendition are worth a try. If you can’t get to NYC’s Gramercy Tavern to place your order, try your luck with this colorful culinary concoction at home.

13. Blackened Potatoes

A blackened dish generally means that Cajun spices are involved, but these potatoes get their “blackness” from balsamic vinegar and red wine. This blackened potatoes recipe is originally from Jamie Oliver, and The Naked Chef seldom disappoints.

14. Potato Candy

When a Facebook friend mentioned a potato confection, I didn’t believe her — until I did some research. Sure enough, a recipe exists for potato candy, which combines mashed potatoes, powdered sugar, and peanut butter. I’m still not sold on the idea, so proceed at your own risk.

16. Potato-Fennel Gratin with Gruyere Cheese

Ina Garten — who’s the totally huggable aunt I never had — offers this gratin recipe for thinly sliced potatoes married with sautéed fennel and earthy Gruyere. A different, decidedly more delicious take on run-of-the-mill scalloped spuds.

17. Boiled Potatoes

There’s no wrong way to dress up boiled potatoes, proven by these 10 boiled potato recipes that easily enhance an otherwise dull dish. My favorite has to be the variation that adds fresh dill, butter, and salt to taste. Simple, fresh, fantastic.

How do you serve spuds in your house? What are your favorite potato recipes? Let me know in the comments section below. The weirder, the better. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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I'm not too big on roasting or frying of potatoes because of acrylamide development. While I grow plenty of potatoes, I usually boil them in chicken stock with carrots, and they are delish that way.
The most unique use I've ever seen potatoes was in Ireland. They were sliced thinly cooked atop a pizza. The same way pepperoni would be added to pizza in the US. It was the merging of Italian and Irish food.

I slice a potato thinly with a mandolin, brush the slices with oil and Chinese 5-spice, sprinkle with salt, and bake in my toaster oven for 15 minutes, turning over and brushing the other side halfway through. Delicious potato chips for one!